Why is this work relevant for Media?

The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness about female alcoholism especially among young people. This is why we chose to « high-jack » the very popular Escape Game,
The escape room was built to be the exact replica of Laurence’s apartment as it was in her darkest years, where all the signs of her addiction were perfectly recreated. Over 7000 people played and tried to find Laurence’s secret
After 40 min of investigation, Laurence herself came to reveal her secret to the gamers, and explain all the signs they had missed or misinterpreted.

Background

Alcoholic people can’t escape their addiction on their own.
Addict Aide, a digital platform dedicated to addictions, that offers all kinds of tools to help deal with addictions, wanted to reach out to a very specific target, very large yet very invisible : alcoholic women. Most of them are well-educated, with good careers, and families, and are secretly trying to deal with their addiction.
Female alcoholism is such a taboo in our society that they usually don’t feel they can ask for help. And the people close to them don’t know how to recognise the signs of their addiction, and help them deal with this disease.

Describe the creative idea/insights

It’ s 2009 in Paris, in the apartment of a woman named Laurence.
Equipped with Polaroid cameras, guests were invited to examine her apartment thoroughly and photograph any relevant evidence in order to discover Laurence's secret. Signs of a struggle, a suspicious red stain on the carpet, coffee beans in her handbag.... What happened here?
Laurence is not a murderess, a KGB agent or a vampire. Laurence is not a fictional character. The truth is something quite different, yet just as troubling. In 2009, Laurence Cottet was a wealthy woman who had a good career with a senior position in a large French company.
But Laurence was also an alcoholic.

Describe the strategy

The objective was to raise awareness about female alcoholism on a large scale, to a wide audience, especially among young people (20-35 y.o). This is why we chose to « high-jack » the principle of the Escape Game, that is « trending » these days in France among the target.

Describe the execution

2 possible ways to « play » Laurence’s Secret, for one month :
1/ An IRL escape game hosted at The Escape Lab, a company specialized in escape games. After 40 min of investigation, Laurence herself came to reveal her secret to the gamers, and explain all the signs they had missed or misinterpreted.
2/ A website to visit Laurence’s apartment virtually, and try to guess Laurence’s secret.
On February 12th, Laurence herself revealed her secret through a video that was sent to all players.
Trafic to the Escape Game was mainly driven through The Escape Lab social networks and influencers that lived the experience and decided to promote it to their followers.

List the results

Thanks to a large media coverage, female alcoholism became a social debate.
More than 50K people visited the educational website in 48 heures, and spent over 200 000 minutes in Laurence’s apartment to learn how to help someone close to escape from their addiction